Jansen is 56-for-64 in save opportunities during his two seasons in Boston.
Kenley Jansen has potentially pitched his last game for the Red Sox: The Red Sox officially secured the first win in Sunday’s doubleheader sweep over the Twins thanks to closer Kenley Jansen’s scoreless ninth inning.
The 36-year-old reliever punctuated his outing with a strikeout via 96 mph cutter against Minnesota’s Jose Miranda. It may also prove to be the final pitch of his Red Sox tenure.
Later on Sunday night (following Boston’s win in the second game), Red Sox manager Alex Cora revealed that Jansen would likely be heading to the injured list due to a sore shoulder.
“There’s a good chance Kenley goes on the IL,” Cora told reporters, per MassLive’s Chris Cotillo. “He has been dealing with the shoulder and right now, recovering is not the thing right now for him. He has been struggling with that. He pitched today. That was the structure that we had. [Chris Martin] and [Justin] Slaten were ready to close Game 2. People see 96 [mph] but they didn’t see 89 [mph] on the first pitch. There’s a good chance he’ll go on the IL tomorrow and we’ll move on.”
Jansen’s contract — a two-year deal worth $32 million — expires after the season, and his future with the team is unknown.
If that proves to be his final outing with the Red Sox, Jansen will finish 56-for-64 in save opportunities while in Boston, posting a 3.44 ERA in 99.1 innings.
Trivia: Triston Casas hit three home runs in the first game of Sunday’s Red Sox doubleheader, tying a team record. It was the 36th time in Red Sox history that a player has hit three home runs in a game. Five Boston players have done it more than once. Can you name them?
(Answer at the bottom).
Hint: Three outfielders, one first baseman, one shortstop.
Scores and schedules:
The Red Sox swept the Twins in a doubleheader on Sunday, with Triston Casas hitting three home runs in the first game and Romy Gonzalez swatting a three-run shot in the second game.
Also on Sunday, the Bruins lost to the Rangers 3-2 in the preseason opener.
A big day for Triston Casas: Amid his memorable performance in the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader, the Red Sox slugger absolutely belted one in the bottom of the fifth to complete his hat-trick of home runs.
On this day: In 2001, Patriots (and NFL) history was irrevocably changed by a single hit. On a 3rd and 10 with just over five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter of a Week 2 game against the Jets — which New England trailed 10-3 — Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe rolled to his right as he tried to look downfield.
But instead of ducking out of bounds, Bledsoe lingered just long enough to get clobbered by Jets linebacker Mo Lewis. More injured than he initially appeared (Bledsoe would later explain that had he not received immediate medical assistance, his life could have been endangered), the former No. 1 overall pick was replaced in the moment by someone who had been to that point an afterthought on the Patriots’ bench: A second-year sixth-round pick named Tom Brady.
Though the youthful Brady was unable to engineer a better outcome against the Jets that night (the Patriots lost 10-3 to fall to 0-2 on the season), he would grow over time as Bledsoe remained sidelined in the ensuing weeks. Of course Bledsoe would make a notable reappearance in the AFC Championship Game, but in the instant of Lewis’s hit, Brady was given a chance that led to a Hall of Fame career, replete with seven Super Bowl wins.
